***ARC Review***
This was a cute hockey romance but I caught myself wanting more. I didn’t hate it but I didn’t love it either. I was really invested in the first half of the book. I really enjoyed the banter between Evie and Fraser. I caught myself laughing, but then I started to get bored in the second half. My biggest complaint is the time jumps. I felt like this caused us not to see much of the fake dating. I’m also not a huge fan of flashbacks but it made sense why this book had them. Overall I still enjoyed this book and this was a great debut novel. I can see potential for the rest of the series.
Thank you to the author and NetGalley for letting me read this ARC!

I read this ARC on NetGalley
This story is the perfect mix of romcom, friends to lovers and hockeymance! I loved how the characters evolved by breaking down each others walls and looking past each others imperfections. The wonderful group of friends and a meddling brother were great additions. All wrapped up with a couple of grand gestures. I will definitely recommend this and am looking forward to whatever book 2 has in store.

ARC Review- I absolutely adored this book! Hockey Romance, Brothers Bestfriend, Boy Next Door, Childhood Crush, Second Chance Romance.
The story was sooo cute! I loved the banter, the plot, the characters! I was laughing and smiling so much while reading this story! Enjoyed it and will be thinking about these characters for awhile!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

I overall thought this was such a cute fun read. I LOVE hockey romances and this checked all my boxes in that regard. I found myself genuinely giggling throughout this book and found the comedy in it to be actually funny. The banter and comedic timing was there every time and it made me love the characters even more! I always appreciate a closed-door romance and this was definitely it. While the emphasis on the virginity trope wasn't my favorite, as at times it felt over the top, I do appreciate romances that are willing to include that. This was such a great debut read, and one that I will have to absolutely add to my shelf!

This book has all of the tropes that us romance lovers absolutely adore indulging in. Fake dating, hockey romance, protective MMC, fiery banter - everything was here!
The relationship between our FMC and MMC is great from the get go. This is a clean sports romance book with no spice. Normally I’d find a book bland that has no spice (personal preference), but the tension between the two characters is so sexually charged that I found I didn’t really miss the spice at all!
I loved the development of the relationship between the two characters, along with the flashbacks to childhood which really help us to fall in love with their relationship. I also love how thoughtful and kind the MMC is - the little things he does throughout the book and his final big grand gesture are all so so sweet! I was rooting for these two throughout the whole book.
I honestly really enjoyed this book but just felt there was a tiny something missing - I can’t place it (and maybe it was the spice!) but I just don’t feel I can give it 5 stars for that reason.
Thank you to Netgalley, Victory Editing Netgalley Co-op and Ash Kelly for this ARC.
Publishing date: 15/05/24

I really enjoyed this book. There are so many tropes that I absolutely love, hockey romance, brother's best friend, celebrity, fake dating. All of the tropes were amazing. I also loved that it was closed door. I wish more hockey romances were closed door.

It's been a long time since I read a close-door romance so full of chemistry. I turned the pages one after the other until the end, all without stopping smiling.
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Evie is a reporter on a local news station and in her segments she provides a bit of optimism but in reality she is still trapped in the meme of the most humiliating situation of her life, when her ex-boyfriend breaks up the relationship on air.
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After such humiliation everyone expects her to never want to see him again but when the invitation to his wedding arrives a few months later she is determined to go and prove that she is perfectly fine.
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but of course her brother doesn't believe her and decides to interfere by getting her a fake date and no one better than her best friend Fraser Redmacher, hockey player and golden son of their hometown, her old high school crush
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I didn't give much importance to the background, the chemistry between them was so good, and their dialogues complemented each other so well that I just wanted to continue reading them.
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It's been a long time since I read a close door that deals with the representation of virgins who want to wait for marriage out of their own conviction and I thought it was well done. I love how things are going, how they both get to know each other and become something more. It was really good
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Thanks to Ash Kelly and her team for give me a copy of this beautiful book in exchange for my honest and voluntary opinion
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I really liked this debut book by Ash Kelly. The writing was snappy. There was banter galore. I was drawn to the characters immediately.

I felt like the author took the usual formulas for romcoms and knew what bothered readers and purposefully did something different. Enter exhibit 1... Truth fries!

For a debut book, I thought this was very well done. I've seen some other reviews and know that the author will learn from some of the things mentioned in them and grow as her writing journey continues.

I'm not here to dissect the writing. There was one topic that I felt may have been a focus a little too much. Mentioning the virginity issue once would have been fine for me. I honestly don't think that is a big topic of conversation among girl friends. I understand why the author included it, and I applaud her for it. It may have just been a bit over done.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the story and look forward to reading more in this series.
I sincerely thank the author and Netgalley for the opportunity to read an advanced copy. I am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

This was such an incredible debut book. This book was laugh out loud funny, sweet and I could not get enough of the banter, Fraser and Evie were made for each other. I loved Levi's scheming to get them together and the pining on Fraser's part. I can't get over the fact that this is a debut book, Ash is so incredibly talented!

This was a cute, banter filled kissing only fake dating pro hockey player romance. The first in a new series, this works as a standalone and is perfect for fans of Jenny Proctor and Emma St. Clair's Appie's series. I quite enjoyed the small town, found family, brother's best friend trope and look forward to more from this new to me indie author. Many thanks to NetGalley and the author for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

This book is sure fun! I really enjoyed the closed door romance for a change, and the chemistry between the characters.

Overall, "The Fake Out Flex" is a sweet and entertaining read that will leave you turning the pages. Many thanks to the Ash Kelly for providing an Advanced Reader Copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

Pub date: 14th May 2024

Evie is on a streak of relationships ending at the one year mark. Her last break up ended with her becoming a viral meme. She's now been invited to her ex's wedding and her brother has arranged for his best friend to be her date. Nate is her brothers life long bestfriend who used to live next door, and he and evie had a bit of a history. Now they have a fake date, but after the wedding they go to the beach and the thing with being a pro hokey player is paparazzi is everywhere. And they get caught up and become viral. So they decide to ride out the fake dating till the hype dies down so she doesn't get embarrassed again. But they both have secrets that could change everything.

This was the cutest! Swooniest! Funniest book!

It's a closed door romance and I LOVED IT!

There were a few mentions of the 90's (see quotes) that rattled me 😂😂😂 just made me feel old 🤭

But this was such a cute story and not your 'typical' like every other hockey romance.

Definitely need to add it to your tbr.

💙

"I've never heard of this before."
"Apparently it's something people used to do all the time in the dark ages.'
"You mean the '90s?"

"So how would a real man break up with me?"
"A real man would never break up with you in the first place, Evie . A real man would be smart enough to realize what a precious gift it is to be with you. A real man would do whatever he could to keep you happy and safe and would always keep two shovels in his car for any unexpected no-questions-asked moments that might arise."

"because if there's one thing that makes romance readers want to hurl their books or Kindles at the nearest wall, it's the overused, clichéd, third-act breakup due to miscommunication. That has been done to death. Don't be that girl, Evie. You're better than that."

I loved this book! It is a closed door hockey romance. Which is exactly what I wanted to read. And I was not disappointed. The romance was perfectly written and I could not put this book down!

Another great hockey romcom! Brother’s best friend. Childhood friends. Fake dating. Found family. Closed door romance.

This is Ash Kelly’s debut novel, and I’m excited to read more books in this series!

This book has me smiling and giggling throughout the whole time. I love the lead characters in this book. Plus, this book has my favourite romance tropes-
❤️ Pro hockey sports romance
❤️ Fake dating
❤️ Brother's best friend
❤️ High school crush
❤️ He falls first
❤️ Small-town vibe
along with close door romance 😘 it been long time since I read the close door romance books but anyway I was sure somewhere that this book won't disappoint me and it literally kept my expectations ❤️

The plot is well paced, i literally finished it in two sittings. So, you can say i devoured this book. Plus, all the characters were well drafted by the author as all were given sufficient scope to contribute to the plot. Each character was unique and interesting in their own way. I loved and had a good time reading the author's work, so I will be looking forward to the next book too now.

Thank you for the ARC!

I was really excited to read this solely based on the premise but it fell short. By the 38% mark I had to start skimming because this really wasn't for me. I feel like there was too much of an attempt to make the main character (I can't even remember her name) quirky and it came off really annoying. I also hated the fact that occasionally the characters would be speaking directly to readers and that is always a dealbreaker for me in books. I also feel like there was too much miscommunication even in the beginning and that just got me.

I will not be reading it again. Thank you for the opportunity to read!

This was a really cute and fun hockey romance! Evie was so cute and I was rooting for her from the beginning. Theres many fun tropes- fake dating, brother’s best friend, small town vibes, and hockey!

This is a cute hockey romance. I love a brother’s best friend book. I liked the flashbacks to their childhood friendship. I found parts to be cringy especially when the main characters were talking about their virginity. I also didn’t like the way they spoke about disabilities and the need to hide a character for the majority of the book.

I was really excited for this book - it has so many of my favorite tropes - but sadly it did not live up my expectations. It was enjoyable, but the ending, in particular, was disappointing.

Evie needs a date for her ex's wedding. It's already bad enough that their breakup went viral, so she can't show up alone. Enter Fraser, her brother's best friend and her long-time secret crush. When pictures of them spark public interest, they decide to continue dating, but how fake is their relationship when both of them feel sparks?

This book has so many killer tropes:
-Brother's Best Friend
-Childhood Friends to Lovers
-Boy Next Door
-Secret Crush
-It's Always Been You

There was so much cuteness with their banter and the 'fries of truth.' Fraser was so sweet, gifting her flowers even when they weren't together. But this book fell a little flat for me. Her group of friends had no individual personalities; they were just one big blob. And the grand gesture at the end came from so far out of left field that it didn't feel genuine. It took a book that was sitting at 3.5 stars that I was willing to round up to 4 down to a 3.

#Review: *The fake out flex* - ARC - Ash Kelly
4/5✨

This book was the perfect choice to relax a bit. Thank you so much Ash Kelly for accepting my request for this ARC 🤗.

Evie has faced a public humiliation with her ex boyfriend. Now he is getting married and he has invited her to his wedding. Evie couldn't say no to his invitation, so now she is forced to go, to demonstrate she is not bothered about everything that happened between them.

Levi, Evie's brother, made a plan with his best friend, Fraser, to help his little sister. Evie and Fraser should go together at that wedding as fake girlfriend and boyfriend. But things couldn't be that simple and everything gets much more complicated. They need to extend this pact for Evie - she needs to keep her job as a reporter.

Of course, they have a hard time denying their feelings to one another. Especially because both of them are hiding something delicate from their life. They don't know how they will react to their secret. And, on top of this, old feelings from their teenage years are coming back stronger than ever.

I liked that there were touched many sensitive subjects, as insecurities, criticism, rejection, innocence. People may be try to avoid these topics because of how the others could react, so I found it really helpful. I also liked how Fraser treated Evie - he was really sweet, tender and attentive with Evie.

A cute, funny, full of banter, clean book😊.
🤍 Tropes 🤍
▫️#FakeDating;
▫️#FirstLove;
▫️#BrothersBestFriend;
▫️#SportsRomance;
▫️#Athlete;
▫️#Hockey;
▫️#NoSpice;
▫️#DualPov.